We were really impressed with Go 96.3 FM's first Go Show #1 (featuring New Politics and Banks at Aria on Mar 2015). We were wondering how they can top that debut show... and they've completely done it by booking Target Field with this incredible band lineup.

We've previously seen covered most of these bands, but to see them all on one bill is simply unbelievable. The kicker? Nosebleed tickets are under $10 each, so you can bring all your friends (well, restricted to a 20-ticket maximum) and hang out in the green.

First of all, I think we're definitely going to be doing the Irish Fair this year. I know St Patrick's Day was in March, but who cares when it's free in August! The two main attraction seems to be California's Young Dubliners .…

The free annual Irish Fair will start next Friday, August 7th and ending on Sunday, August 9th, at Harriet Island. Headliner for the first two nights will be Los Angeles' Young Dubliners.... currently touring in support of their latest album Nine.
We previously caught Young Dubliners when they headlined the Irish Fair in 2010, so I'll be good to have them back in the Twin Cities.

NOTE: The Irish Fair fans should know that there is a $20 Kickoff Party event on Thursday, August 6th, featuring local Irish band Wild Colonial Bhoys.

Do you know what's funny? Social D was one of the first bands I saw when I was living in Fresno, California. They were huge back then just coming off their big hit single "Bad Luck"..…

SOCIAL DISTORTION
at First Avenue
Friday, 08/07/2015, 7pm ($35/Sold Out)first-avenue.com

Our new writer Langen will be seeing Social Distortion at First Avenue. Not to brag, but I saw Social D in 1992(?) in Fresno, California. They played a tiny club and changed the line in "Ball & Chain" from "county jail" to "Fresno County Jail" and got a huge roar from the audience.

Mike Ness and company are on tour at the moment because their debut self-titled album turned 25 in 2015 (originally released in 1990). Expect the punk band to play the entire album, plus throwing in some old favorites from Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell, etc.

The first time I heard of Walk Off The Earth, I confused them with Walk the Moon. Walk off the Earth is the chart-topping viral band with their sophomore album Sing It All Away, set for release this Summer, June 16th on Columbia Records. The album is available for pre-order today with the lead single “Rule The World” and the title track “Sing It All Away” as instant downloads. Additionally, the album features the bonus track of Walk Off The Earth’s collaboration with Steve Aoki inspired by their song “Home We’ll Go (Take My Hand).”

Southern California’s FIDLAR followed, in support of their debut album on Mom & Pop, with an explosive 45min of punk/surf rock, set that threw the crowd immediately into a whipped up, sweat-dripped frenzy
.…

This is one of the best band to see live is Matt and Kim. The duo is returning to Minneapolis at the Mill City Nights next, next Friday, May 22nd (Morrissey's Birthday). We've previously seen them "Rock the Garden" in June 2014 and at First Avenue in November 2012.

Matt and Kim's latest release is called New Glow; released on April 7, 2015.

Waters to open the show. Waters was previously in town with Smallpools and Magic Man.

The first day of Rock the Garden show is this Saturday! Join us as we cover the annual event. …

The annual Summer music festival Rock the Garden, organized by the Walker Art Center and 89.3 The Current, just started last night and continues to Sunday, June 22nd. A full review will be written at a later date, this post is to just quickly get some photos and some notes of what just happened!

Lizzo

Lizzo-

Considered Rock the Garden a “some day” gig and was honored to open the event, brought out GRRRL PARTY for ‘Wegula.’

Jeremy Messersmith

Jeremy Messersmith-

Now backed by a large 10-piece band, covered Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’ in a big way, which he called a “No Apologies” track (a nod to Current DJ Mary Lucia).

Best Coast

Best Coast-

Bethany said “You know how to do the first day of summer!”, mentioned a new album in the fall, “Hope we rocked your Garden” they said ending.

Matt and Kim

Matt and Kim -

Huge energy, hundreds of balloons, confetti, dares people to crowd surf, covers played including one “by a great American poet, Robert Kelly…you may know him as R. Kelly”; Kim walked on audience members’ hands in the crowd briefly.

De La Soul-

Played with a harder edge than on record; had the audience guess which day of the week was their favorite; backed by 9-member Rhythm Roots All-Stars; slightly different version of hit, ‘Me Myself and I’; ‘Feel Good, Inc.’ (Gorillaz), even did a verse of Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’

Monday, 02 December 2013

Although the sisters exit the stage, they soon appear, singing back up for She & Him. I'll have to say that seeing Zooey, standing next to Matthew Ward, that she's a very small person. Ward rarely sings.…

We saw Matt and Kim live a few years ago, and they were so much fun. What's new with the duo? They are selling all their MP3 albums for $5.99 each (sale ends December 7th). Their final year-end show will be in New York at Cyndi Lauper & Friends: Home for the Holidays benefit show at the Beacon Theatre on December 7th. Ticket and information at truecolorsfund.org.

Also, in case you missed it, last month Matt & Kim released a remix album called Lightning Remixes on FADER. If you get the album on limited vinyl, it comes with a die-cut featuring a topless Kim.

"Let's Go" is the single from Matt and Kim's fourth album, Lightning, available now via FADER. Fans of the duo said that the new album is "less slick" than their previous effort Sidewalks. ...

That was a lot of fun. The foul-mouthed couple/duo Matt & Kim brought their energy to First Avenue in Minneapolis, last night, November 7th.

OBERHOFER

Opening up for them was Brooklyn's Oberhofer. Although they're based out of New York, they had a young British rock sound (think Kooks and Bombay Bicycle Club and you get the idea.) Singer Brad Oberhofer was fun to watch, during "Landline," he went to the balcony and slid down the stair railings.

As expected, they played songs off their debut Glass Note album, Time Capsules II, including "HEART" (Oberhofer's rare keyboard moment and had static audio problem coming from the device), and their hit song, "Away Frm U."

As for Matt & Kim, they were a lot of fun. Please refer to the setlist to see the full play list; I'll just be talking about some of the highlights.

Number one: For an all-ages show, it was slightly uncomfortable with all the F-bombs being dropped. Kim apologized after she came out and asked, "How are you all f****g doing?" After a while, I guess you just forget all the motherloving words and accept that is just the way they talk. Mental picture of the couple eating breakfast: "Pass the motherf****g milk!"

Number two: These guys are clearly pros at manipulating the crowd. I've never heard the words "Minneapolis" mentioned so many times in a show. I can only imagine that it's the same for other cities. You have to give them props, pitting us against Salt Lake City for top three best cities on their 2012 tour. I think other artists could take tips from these guys and how they get the audience pumped up and dancing.

Number three: From their banter on stage, Matt said this was their third time in Minneapolis and it's also their biggest crowd yet. It was a very good turn out for a Wednesday, with a lot of fans singing, handclapping, and jumping along to Matt & Kim. My favorite moment is when Kim walked on their fans or when they had fans blowing up balloons.

Matt & Kim's songs are all high energy, but I found even their slowest song on their live set, "Ten Dollars I Found," was still very entertaining to watch (especially because Kim finally steps out of the drum kit to sing in the spotlight… with a pair of gongs!)

I've seen some really fun shows, but Matt & Kim is one of most entertaining shows I've seen this year.
Matt & Kim are currently on tour in support of Lightning, out now on Fader.

If you can't make it out to a show, you can stream Lightning on their YouTube or Soundcloud.

PS, the band recently announced recently that they are going on tour with Passion Pit, in 2013! This is a perfect fit for them, considering that Oscar reported the recent Passion Pit show: "…the crowd […] went ballistic… The pit was so crowded that I couldn’t tell people apart, just arms and heads, all pulsing up, down, left, and right."

"Let's Go" is the single from Matt and Kim's fourth album, Lightning, available now via FADER. Fans of the duo said that the new album is "less slick" than their previous effort Sidewalks. That sounds just fine, considering that the band is probably known for their high energy live shows.
From Kateg's previous coverage, she summed it up: "[their show] ran on a ridiculous amount of energy and good cheer."

Sounds like a lot of fun, I'm looking forward to finally seeing the band this November 7th at First Avenue.

While the band was here in the States in March, they've decided to come back to do a proper tour. They've also just recently released "Dark Again" (October 9th), the first single from their debut album Black Sun, due out January 2013.

Attending CMJ this year? They'll be making special appearances throughout the festival.

I will be stopping by to see Gold Fields at The Nether Bar (the bar underneath Mill City Nights) and then stopping by the Turf Club for The Soft Pack.

Author, musician and actress Shayne Leighton, just wrote her darker, edgier, grungier "Twilight-esque" book called Of Light and Darkness: The Vampire's Daughter. Readers who buys the book (digital or hard copy) by October 13th on Amazon will get a free MP3 download of her song, "You Gave Me Roses."
Virtual receipts should be sent to: theoccultcity[a]gmail.com.

The book publisher described Of Light & Darkness: The Vampire's Daughter as a "goth story of Charlotte, a mortal girl bound between the lines of light and darkness who must fight for life and love in a mystical realm of fantasy..."

Interpol's debut album Turn On the Bright Lights turns ten years old this year. They are very excited to let fans know that they are planning to release a Tenth Anniversary Edition of Turn On The Bright Lights on November 19th, 2012 (although Amazon is listing this for December 4, 2012.)

Fans who have been patiently waiting for this will be happy to know that the whole album has been remastered with previously unreleased photographs and additional bonus disc of demos, b-sides, and a DVD. Plus vinyl fans can get the option for the double LP/DVD or CD/DVD.

Thursday, 28 October 2010

“Tuesday night New York dance party!” Matt declared towards the beginning of their show at Webster Hall. That about summed up the atmosphere in the large venue, where a sea of people all jumped up and down in unison and occasionally supported an over-zealous crowdsurfer. Like the band itself, the show ran on a ridiculous amount of energy and good cheer. They opened with the child-like wonder anthem, “I Wanna,” and blazed through several other fan favorites, like “5K” and “Good Ol’ Fashioned Nightmare” in a matter of minutes. Their songs have always been on the short side, but they stretched it out with funny interludes involving familiar beats and melodies (IE: Sugar Hill Gang’s “Apache”). The audience joined in on “Lessons Learned,” adding their own “da da das” along with Kim’s.

The interaction between Matt and Kim provided much of the entertainment as well, as they have their stage banter down to a quasi-comedic act. Matt joked about everything from the semi-plausible Matt and Kim porno to his Justin Beiber-like bangs, while Kim cursed like a sailor. They enthralled the audience with pseudo-gymnastics, climbing on everything from stools, to ladders, to Kim’s drumset. It was endearing to watch them during songs as well, still grinning maniacally each other, as if they still can’t believe they’re up there, playing their own songs. After all, it’s a big leap from loft parties to Webster Hall.

PART ONE: SALLY
♥ Internet: My lamentation of the Vox service is going away. Although we both had numerous problems with posts and formatting. The nice thing about Typepad is that it does offer a no frills html composure (although I hear there's some issues with the new editor).
♥ Sydney: Miami Horror, touring the US and releasing a double disc album. Details previously mentioned here.
♥ Melbourne: Clubfeet's debut album Gold on Gold is quite good! Then I found out that "Teenage Suicide (Don't Do It)" is a bit of a joke song - from an imaginary band on the movie Heathers (which, incidentally, I own on a special tin-edition DVD).
♥ London: Goldfrapp has an iPhone pinball game. The concept of the game is interesting: you remix a Goldfrapp song when you play. You can download the game via iTunes.
♥ Sydney: Peabody is going to stream all their music from Loose Manifesto via their website eventually. Currently showing two songs.
♥ New York: Das Racist returning with a new mixtape called Sit Down, Man out on September 14th. Watch the trailer on youtube. Pitchfork premiered their video for "Who's That? Brooown!" a few days ago.
♥ Brisbane: Hungry Kids Of Hungary not going hungry on their two years-winning of 2010Q Music Award for the Alternative Category. The Q stands for Queensland, not the UK music magazine.

PART TWO: BRODY
♥ New Orleans: Brody's big easy move. He's on the scene! Will be trying to attend a bunch of upcoming bands, especially keen on Sasha Masakowski and the famed-Voodoo Music Festival.
♥ New York: Peelander-Z touring New Orleans. Can't stop praising them.
♥ Tennessee: Those Darlins, no idea where they're at now, but if they're in town, you know I'll be there.

3. In high school I was co-president of a dedicated Weezer fanclub called The Cuomosexuals. We mostly dissected Pinkerton lyrics, line by line.

Needless to say, this show (on Halloween, of all days) carried quite a bit of sentimental weight for me. Like most seasoned fans, I’ve pretty much abandoned all hope of Weezer ever releasing anything remotely listenable, yet I’m still willing to brave Ticketmaster fees just to hear “Tired of Sex” – even if that means sitting through gems like “We Are All on Drugs” and “Can’t Stop Partying.” In terms of band-fanbase relationships, Rivers is Sid Vicious, and we old-school fans are doped up, masochistic Nancy.

The show was at the sprawling Hammerstein Ballroom, an odd place to see the opening act: Matt & Kim. (Unnecessary Personal Fact #4: My friends and I saw Matt & Kim right after our senior prom. This night truly was high school redux.) I’ve seen them play in the backroom of a Texan bar and the bowels of a Brooklyn brewery, but this venue was by far the strangest. Despite this, they were as hyper as ever, dressed up as Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick and hurling candy and condoms into the audience. They won the crowd over by using “The Final Countdown” to segue into “Daylight.” Yes, they had t-shirt guns and giant inflatable spiders, and they were playing in a 1200-capacity ballroom – but there was no denying that this was the same band I saw after my senior prom.

Alas, if that was only the same case for Weezer. I should go ahead and say that I had a fucking amazing time. I was front row at a Weezer show, mere inches away from Rivers. This was the epitome of my high school fantasies. But something was amiss. This may have had something to do with the fact that they came out dressed like insects.

Rivers

Yes, when Weezer took the stage, Brian was as a beetle, Pat was a praying mantis, Scott was something vague and sparkly, and Rivers –ever the Kiss fan—was a big, fuzzy purple spider. It was cheesy and nerdy, two of Weezer’s hallmarks, but what really brought it home was when Rivers stormed onto the stage, one of his many furry appendages got tangled in a microphone stand, causing him to stumble. All of this happened within the first few seconds of “Hash Pipe,” by the way.

The theatrics were obviously a priority that night. Some of the stranger items of interest: Rivers brought out a ukulele with the sole intention of kicking its ass, Leighton Meester (a.k.a. Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl fame) made a cameo to help sing some song off of Raditude, Rivers proved to be quite adept with a trampoline, Pat played Rivers’ guitar parts for most of the show, Scott sang “My Name Is Jonas” (blasphemy!), and they ended the first set with their infamous MGMT/Lady Gaga medley. Oh, and Rivers rapped Lil Wayne’s part on “Can’t Stop Partying.” Vanilla Ice would be proud.

As both an insufferable snob and helpless Weezer fan, I was torn. I went beavershit crazy during any song from the first two albums, but during anything post-2001, I’d turn to my friend and shrug, mouthing, Do you know this song? (Yeah, we’re assholes.) Soon I noticed that we were pretty much the only ones not creaming ourselves over a song like “Pork and Beans.” Weezer plays stadiums and ballrooms for a reason – and it’s because of this new breed of diehard fans who unconditionally love Rivers, regardless of his questionable facial hair and fondness for Snuggies. These are the people who close their eyes and sway to “Beverly Hills,” while restlessly checking their Blackberries during “Surf Wax America.” In short, these are Weezer’s true fans, whereas I represent their bitter ex who is stuck in the past with the emotional stretch marks to prove it.

They ended the show with “Buddy Holly,” which was good enough for me. My inner-seventh grader was dying to hear “El Scorcho,” but it went unplayed that night. I’m sure it was for the best, as it wouldn’t have been the same without Eugene.